A 'Moderna' Cinderella Story: AstraZeneca's $240M Up Front

Moderna Therapeutics Inc.'s major win, in the form of a $240 million up-front licensing deal with battered AstraZeneca plc for technology still at the preclinical stage, put the spotlight on messenger RNA therapy (mRNA) and sparked guesswork about whether the wager by the pharma giant can bring enough revenue soon enough.